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Pinocchio (Emotional)

Description

The famous children's story of Pinocchio was popularized by Disney, but actually created in 1883 by Italian Carlo Collodi. The story is replete with examples of Pinocchio's mischievous, hedonistic behavior that lead to so much of his misfortune. Dine's sculpture of Pinocchio is much more akin to the original conniving Collodi figure than the famed naive Disney figure.

Depending on the angle of approach, the perception Dine's Pinocchio at the Cincinnati museum (one of a series of three) shifts dramatically. The figure is posed with one brazier-burned foot behind the other, back arched, arms outstretched, and head thrown back. His notorious nose spears into the sky, though his face bears no other features. The fact that the figure has no mouth or eyes seems to be in direct contrast with the title's parenthetical "emotional." Pinocchio's emotion in this sculpture is not directly discernible. From the front, he appears to be welcoming visitors and hearkening to the heavens. Alternatively, he could be in a mode of surrender or even angst-driven, frustrated incredulity. From the back, with his right foot staggered slightly behind his left, he appears to be calling out to visitors imploring them to visit. And from either side, he takes on a sort of Christ pose.

Dine expertly contrasts the silly with the profound in this piece. The vaguely Christological posing of the figure, it's monumental scale, it's grotesque featureless face all create great tension with the figure's rumpled, silly outfit, Disney gloves, cartoonish proportions, and his being a children's puppet at all.

The Cincinnati museum has a collection of prints by Jim Dine depicting vignettes from the story. His rendering of Geppetto is both remarkable and apt: a self-portrait. Dine aligns himself with the ill-fated creator of the puppet as one cannot be the artist of Pinocchio without equally identifying themselves with Geppetto.

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Veteran's Memorial Statuary

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The six figures crowing the façade of Memorial Hall commemorate the Revolutionary War to the Spanish American War with a pioneer (ca 1700), minutman (1776), sailor (1812), artillery soldier (1856), infantry soldier (1865) and cavalry soldier (1890).

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Canticle

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Russian-born artist Liberman, recipient of many international commissions for public art, describes Canticle as a hymn of praise soaring in space to elevate the spirit of the spectator. The sculpture was purchased for the plaza outside the Adams Landing condominium complex and dedicated by Allen G. Zaring to the people of Cincinnati. (Scheurer, A Guide to Public Art in Downtown Cincinnat, p.3).

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Latitude and Longitude

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In a raised flower bed of the plaza stand two companion pieces. They are like lines of a drawing in space, and their forms are reminiscent of armillary spheres, instruments onced used to display the relationships of celestial bodies.

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Untitled

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Two forms sheathed in flowing water and symmetrically placed within a reflecting pool. The tall piece symbolizes man's relationship to nature with its organic grace and gentle cascade. The shorter prismatic piece with its sharp angles and more powerful cascade represents man's relationship to his work and his growth through forceful effort.

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Two Rectangles Vertical Gyratory II, Variation IV

Description

Two large rectangular paddles move unpredictably in a perpetual dance atop a 28 foot vertical shaft. Rickey achieved a delicate balance in the work that allows the paddles to rotate around a horizontal bar while the bar orbits the vertical shaft. Light reflects off the hand polished surfaces of the paddles illuminating the piece and further emphasizing the feeling of movement.

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Sculpture Screen

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""One prevailing characteristic of the sculpture is the interplay of void and matter, the void being of equal value to the component material units, "" Bertoia has said. The sculpture is a construction is metal using rods and wire to define space and to support abstract shapes.